Issue Three - SWOB Group Benefits Inc.

Volume #3 Issue #3
Quote of the Newsletter.
The only true wisdom is knowing
you know nothing.
Shannon and Wilma O’Brien of
SWOB Group Benefits would like to wish
everyone a safe and enjoyable summer.
May flowers always line your path and sunshine light your day.
May songbirds serenade you every step along the way.
May a rainbow run beside you in a sky that’s always blue.
And may happiness fill your heart each day your whole life through.
Welcome to the end of the school year edition of the P, B & J.
As always, we will continue to provide helpful, interesting and fun
information for you to enjoy. If you have any information you would
like included in future copies, contact us directly at
wobrien@swob.ca.
School Humour
One morning a mother was trying to wake up her son. "Wake up
now! It's time to go to school." "I don't want to go to school," the
son replied. His mother said, "Give me two reasons why you
don't want to go to school." "Okay. One, all the children hate me. Two, all
the teachers hate me." "Not good enough," the mother replied. "Fine," the
son said. "Then you give me two good reasons why I SHOULD go to
school." "One, you're 50 years old. Two, you're the principal of the school."
Pensions and Benefits Committee
SEE YOU IN SEPTEMBER!
If you wish to talk directly to the Pensions and Benefits Committee, you may do
so courtesy of St. Paul’s High School at the following email address:
mcspensionandbenefits@stpauls.mb.ca
Did You Know?
The name 'Winnipeg' comes from the Cree Indian words 'Win' (muddy) and
'nipee' (water) and is named after the lake located about 40 miles north of the city.
Your MCSGS Pension and Benefits Committee are listed below:
Chair & Employer Rep:
Rick De Guzman
Employee Rep:
Susan Finnigan
Employee Rep:
Carol Rebeck
Employer Rep:
Gwen Kist
Committee Advisor:
Shannon O’Brien
Would you like to take an active role in the MCSGS RPP and Group Benefit
plan? The Pension and Benefits Committee meet once a month from September to
June. We are looking for employee representatives. If you would like to join our
team, please email us at the email address above.
A little note to ponder…..!
The greatest good you can do for another person is not just to
share your riches but to reveal to him his own?
AN OLD LADY’S POEM
What do you see, nurses, what do you see? What are you thinking when
you’re looking at me? A crabby old woman, not very wise, uncertain of
habit, with faraway eyes? Who dribbles her food and makes no reply. Who
seems not to notice the things that you do, and forever is losing a stocking
or shoe. Who, resisting or not, let’s you do as you will, with bathing and
feeding, the long day to fill.
There are many ways to get your claims to Blue Cross:
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Drop them off in our drive thru drop off box at 599 Empress Street
Bring them in to the Customer Service Centre at 599 Empress Street
Fax them to us at 204-772-1231
E-mail them (in PDF format) to info@mb.bluecross.ca
IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT
The City of Winnipeg has advised Manitoba Blue Cross and other insurance carriers that effective May 16, 2011 the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic
Service will no longer bill carriers directly for ambulance services. This means you will need to pay for ambulance services
and submit your receipt to Manitoba Blue Cross for reimbursement.
Other Manitoba ambulance providers are continuing with their current billing practices. If, for any reason you are required to pay these other providers for your ambulance services, submit your receipt to Manitoba Blue
Cross for reimbursement.
God & Human Humour……!
Human:
God:
Human:
God:
Human:
God:
What is a century like to you?
It is like a second.
What is a billion dollars like to you?
Like a penny….
Can I have a penny?
Sure, just wait for a second…!
Then open your eyes, nurse; you’re not looking at me. I’ll tell you who I
am as I sit here so still, as I do at your bidding, as I eat at your will. I’m a
small child of ten...with a father and mother, brothers and sisters, who love
one another. A young girl of sixteen, with wings on her feet, dreaming that
soon now a lover she’ll meet. A bride soon at twenty-my heart gives a
leap, remembering the vows that I promised to keep. At twenty-five now, I
have young of my own, who need me to guide and secure a happy home. A
woman of thirty, my young now grown fast, bound to each other with ties
that should last. At forty, my young sons have grown and are gone, but my
man’s beside me to see I don’t mourn. At fifty once more, babies play
around my knee, again we know children, my loved one and me.
Dark days are upon me, my husband is dead: I look at the future, I shudder
with dread. For my young are all rearing young of their own, and I think of
the years and the love that I’ve known. I’m now an old woman…..and nature is cruel; Tis jest to make old age look like a fool. The body, it crumbles, grace and vigour depart, there is now a stone where I once had a
heart. But inside this old carcass a young girl still dwells, and now and
again my battered heart swells. I remember the joys, I remember the pain,
and I’m loving and living life over again. I think of the years...all too few,
gone too fast, and accept the stark fact that nothing can last.
So open your eyes, nurses, open and see…..not a crabby old woman; look
closer, see ME!
I would rather feel
compassion than to know
the meaning of it!
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Answers to JETS Questions:
1979: The year before 1978-1979 in the WHA they won the Avco
cup as league champs, beating the Edmonton Oilers. It was the
third time they had won the cup and the last time any team would
ever win as the following year the WHA folded.
Jimmy Mann: Mann went on to get 30 career points in 293 career
games.
Pittsburgh: The final score was 4-2 in favour of Pittsburgh.
Dale Hawerchuk: Hawerchuk won it for the 1981-82 season scoring 45 and adding 58 assists.
1995: They still kept the Jets but gave the picture of the Jet a lot
more detail, even though it wasn’t the biggest change the fans still
appreciated the change. They also retired Thomas Steen’s number
25 that same night.
Oleg Tverdovsky: Temmu was traded to the Anaheim Mighty
Ducks. Teemu went on to score two 50 goal seasons laying along
side the likes of Paul Kariya.
Keith Tkachuk: The following year in 1996-1997 he accomplished
the feat again with “new” Winnipeg Jets, the Phoenix Coyotes scoring 52 goals.
Kris King: King was the last Winnipeg Jet ever to win an NHL
award winning the King Clancy award for the 1995-1996 season
18: Winnipeg Jets 1979-1996 BUT Returned in 2011.
WELCOME HOME JETS!
JETS QUIZ - See how many you know?
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9.
What year did the Jets join the NHL?
Who was Winnipeg’s first ever draft Pick, 19th overall in 1979?
Who did the Jets play and lose their first NHL game to on Oct, 10,
1979?
Who was the first Jet ever to win the Calder trophy for most outstanding rookie in the NHL?
What year did the Jets retire their original team logo?
Who did Winnipeg get in return for Temmu Selanne in a trade Feb 7,
1996?
Who was Winnipeg’s leading goal scorer in their final game year
with 50?
Who was the last Jet player to win an NHL award?
How many years did the Jets franchise actually last in the NHL?
Read further for answers.
A perfect summer day is when the sun is shining, the breeze
is blowing, the birds are singing,
and the lawn mower is broken.
Retirees still in debt according to Stats Canada.
For a happier retirement, think like a woman!
A new BMO/Harris Decima survey suggests that even though, on average, women
are less financially prepared than men, they are more likely to enjoy their retirement.
This defies the odds, since women face statistical obstacles when planning for their
senior years: women outlive men creating a longer, more costly retirement. They
also tend to earn and save less than men during their working years.
Men are also more likely than women to have investments and a
financial plan in place for retirement – 61% versus 52%.
So why are women so content? Is ignorance bliss?
Almost one-third of retired Canadians are in some form of debt, according to
Statistics Canada. Their study found that 34% of retired individuals aged 55
and over, whether single or in a couple, held mortgage or consumers debt in
2009. The median amount owed was $19,000.
However, the debt level was much higher among those in the same age group
who had not yet retired. The survey showed that among pre-retirees aged 55
and over, two-thirds held mortgage or consumer debt and their median debt
load was $40,000.
Marital status also plays a part in overall finances. Divorced and retired people
had the highest incidence of debt at 43%, followed by couples at
35%, those who never married at 30%, and widows or widowers at
28%.
Tina Di Vito, head of retirement strategies at BMO, says women tend to enter retirement with a stronger social network and tend to have lower expectations about
living it up on their savings.
Retirees with debt had a median annual household income of
$42,000 and a median net worth of $295,000. Overall, their debt
was equivalent to about 7% of their total assets. Older retirees were significantly less likely to have outstanding debt.
“Historically, men’s identities have been very closely tied to their work, so when
they stop working, they find they haven’t replaced work with something that gives
them a sense of purpose. This is reflected in high rates of depression and anxiety
among men”.
Despite the figures, the majority of retirees reported that their finances were
what they had expected them to be prior to retirement. The retirees claimed
that their income was sufficient to cover their expenses and honour financial
situations.
Live long and prosper?
RBC finds Canadians 50+ expect to live longer on less.
MCSGS Registered Pension Plan Rates of Return
(Gross annualized rates of return ending April 30, 2011 - 1 yr)
ASSET ALLOCATION FUNDS
Fund Name
Rate of Return
Conservative Strategy Fund
12.32%
Moderate Strategy Fund
13.51%
Balanced Strategy Fund
14.70%
Advanced Strategy Fund
16.50%
Aggressive Strategy Fund
17.65%
CONTINUUM TARGET DATE FUNDS
Fund Name
Rate of Return
Continuum 2010 Fund
9.06%
Continuum 2015 Fund
9.91%
Continuum 2020 Fund
10.78%
Continuum 2025 Fund
11.61%
Continuum 2030 Fund
12.25%
Continuum 2035 Fund
12.81%
Continuum 2040 Fund
13.33%
Continuum 2045 Fund
13.69%
Continuum 2050 Fund
14.03%
An overwhelming 90% of Canadians aged 50+ who have not yet retired
expect to have a successful retirement, yet more than a third (36%) are worried
that they do not have enough money to live well and do what they want, according
to an RBC poll.
In addition, Canadians aged 50+ who are not yet retired are expecting to live into
their mid- to late 80's, with 46% basing this longevity projection on family history
and 17% on their current health. They also anticipate that, by their mid- to late
70's, their present lifestyles will change due to health or disability constraints leaving approximately a ten-year gap when they may become more dependent on
others.
To financially support their retirement years, pre-retirees list their top income
sources as follows:
• RRSPs/RRIFs (90%)
• Government and employer pension plans (84% and 58% respectively)
• Old Age Security (66%)
• Equity in their homes (56%).
Furthermore, keeping pace with inflation is top of mind with pre-retirees, but poll
findings indicate that they may not have the best inflation strategy in place. Only
one-third (35%) responded that they have invested with inflation in mind. More
than two-thirds (70%) of pre-retirees stated they would adjust their lifestyle as
necessary to cope with inflation.
Moms would be paid less in 2011
A new survey shows if Mom was paid for all she does, she would earn
less in 2011. The results of Salary.com’s 2011 survey indicate that
stay-at-home moms earned a base salary of $36,968 plus $78,464 in overtime for
the 10 occupations assigned: a total of $115,432, down from $117,856 last year.
Mothers working outside the home earned a “mom” base salary of $39,763 plus
$23,709 in overtime totalling $63,472 in addition to the compensation from their
day job. In 2010, this number was significantly higher at $71,860.
The study found the typical stay-at-home mom spends 13.2 hours as a day care
center teacher; 3.9 hours as the family’s CEO; 7.6 hours as a psychologist; 14.1
hours as a cook; 15.4 as a housekeeper; 6.6 hours doing laundry; 9.5 hours as a
computer operator; 10.7 hours as a facilities manager; 7.8 hours as a janitor and
7.8 hours as a van driver. Also uncovered was Mom’s increased role as family
psychologist and facilities manager and diminished role as CEO.
A Mom Salary Wizard is available at salary.com.